In-situ epitaxial growth study of Bi2(Sr,Ca)3Cu2Ox films by ion beam sputtering on cleaved MgO substrates

This paper reports on in-situ epitaxial growth of Bi2(Sr0.6Ca0.4)3Cu2Ox films on cleaved MgO substrates studied by ion beam sputtering. The crystallographic structures were analyzed by using in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction, 4 x-ray diffractometer, and scanning electron microscope. While the epitaxial films on polished MgO substrates commonly showed the four-fold symmetry, the epitaxial films having the two-fold symmetry were successfully grown on the cleaved MgO substrates and the films contained equivalent two types of misoriented domains. The epitaxial relationship between these domains and the cleaved MgO substrates was such that the b-axis of each domain deviated approximately ±13 degrees from [010] MgO where the cleavage steps ran along [100] MgO